Bill Bradley on legal reform. In his 2007 book, The New American Story, former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley criticizes his own party for, among other things, letting itself become indebted to trial lawyers. Concerning the possibility of reforms in areas such as medical malpractice law, he says this:

Democrats have not yet offered any real alternative to the status quo--and trial lawyers have rewarded Democrats by their fealty to their cause .... By empowering the trial bar and getting hooked on its generous contributions to our war chests, we Democrats have become less and less likely to oppose the trial bar’s agenda, no matter how self-serving it might be. (301)

This is in a whole chapter on ways his party falls short of what the country needs. The chapter right next to it is devoted entirely to ways in which the other party falls short. He's chosen to scrutinize all the players, rather than just his traditional opponents. He's framing a genre that makes inquiry more important than rhetorical victory. It's a good genre reflecting choice and hope as well as respect for audience and possibility. Genres imply things about our relationships to each other, for better or worse; genres imply what we want those relationships to be. [0 & P]